I worry that aliens would judge us by Craig's List

No seriously there is some messed up stuff on there! I saw a post where some guy wanted to experience a tie with a dog...!!!!! Flagged it but still.

People giving up pets for the silliest of reasons. Now I am not one to say a dog should NEVER be rehomed. There are times when it is necessary and there are the right ways to go about it.

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/bra/pet/1132643389.html

So what changed in 4 weeks that you can't keep the puppy? If the person had bought from a reputable breeder or adopted from a rescue she could give the puppy back and not have to worry about finding the right home. At least the ad doesnt' say the pup is a "Jug". I can't imagine what the purpose between crossing those two breeds are.... (I love both breeds but they are so opposite)

And really if you aren't ready for a puppy but get one anyway are you really qualified for picking out a new home? Puppies should not be impulse buys.

"We are trying to find a good home for a 4 month old Jack Russel Terrier Puppy. She has had her first shots and has been dewormed. She is very loving and would make a perfect family dog."
http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/drh/pet/1131641762.html

Sooo once again.. WTF? If she would make the perfect family dog why not keep her? Where did you get your JRT that you didn't sign a contract with the breeder? So you bought a skeezily bred JRT pup and now want to dump it after a couple of months..... nice!

And these are tame by CL standards (of course when you are looking the weirdos are not posting)

Anyone have some good examples?

Ack its been awhile.. but...

Some food for thought on the anti breeder movement..

The anti-breeder sentiment is possibly making the problem worse. Now bear with me through this.

First off I have to say I do support rescue and have and do foster for the JRTRO and helped rehab dogs who were due to be PTS. When we wanted a BC we adopted from BC rescue of Ontario. I do breed JRTs very occasionally because there are so many JRTs needing homes already (so I also don't breed for the pet market)

Now there are two groups of anti breeder people. People who support PETA and want no more pets of any kind period. Those people are just wackjobs we can forget about them for the time being.

Then there are people who say no more breeding till all the dogs in shelters find homes.

Ok lets talk about that.

We all know that until people stop buying impulse puppies at pet stores and are more educated about where to find a puppy the Millers and BYB will still be in business. This is where the rescue and pet store dogs come from. IMO BYB and Millers don't care about dogs or the plight of the over population problem. So they are not going to slow down production.. why should they. They just sell them to people who dump them in shelters and rescues. They still get the cash just the same.

The shelters and rescues are just cleaning up other people's messes. As long as there are those who will jump in and clean up the messes what insentive does the breeder of those dogs have to stop? Shelters and rescues give a place for people to 'feel good' about dumping their dogs. They delude themselves into thinking that 9 year old arthritic Fluffy will find a great home that can look after his health problems, or that Sharkie the biting terrier who messes on the floor will find someone who can train him.

The issue is we need to educate the public. By sending telling them to just adopt and save a life and to not go to a breeder is good for the dog they get.. but is it good for dogs? We tell people not to go to a BYB or get from a pet store. We list health problems temperament problems bad breedign practicies etc etc... yet that is the dog they adopt! (of course all don't have issues.. but all byb or milled dogs don't either.. you just have a much higher chance) How do we educate the public without shoot ourselves in the foot?

And realistically if those breeders who DO care about dogs (AKA all the good and ethical breeders who will do everything in their power to keep pups out of shelters etc) stop breeding... what happens when they do want to start breeding again? What happens to all those health tested proven bloodlines? If our goal is to have a happy well adjusted healthy dog population we need to keep the good breeders going and stop the bad ones. Right now the anti-breeder types are supporting the bad breeders indirectly and harming the good ones.

How do we fix this? Educating the public is difficult. Dogs are not objects and its not their fault they were bred, but we need to some how stop making it so easy for the Millers to pump out dogs.

The only idea I have had is to mandate that all pups sold in petstores are microchipped. The name of the breeder MUST stay on the microchip as a second name. That way if the dog ever gets sent to a shelter the dog can be shipped back to the breeder (and a follow up to see what they did with the dog... I am not against painless euthanasia after a period of looking for a home for an unwanted dog.. its better than being a stray or living their life in a cage). If every unwanted dog got returned to the breeder that might curb the excess production of pups.

Not that you could make this happen... if the people who drop off Fluffy or Sharkie had to watch their 'beloved' pet being euthed it might make dumping them a little harder to do.

Stay tuned.. posts starting up again after wed!!

Sorry for the longer than intended hiatus. Exams ended and then I lost one of my mares 2 days after she foaled and right when I was starting placement. So I am raising an orphan foal, she is doing well and is now eating solids and drinking milk from a bucket (whew).

This weekend I have a horse in a TV show (should be fun) after this I shall be back to ripping apart idiots and commending the commendable.

Posts may not be regular for the next week or so..

I have exams for the next while. (anyone want to write my pharm or biochem exams?) So I might not be posting every day or so. I might have some guest blogs, we will have to see. I do have some blogs planned. There will be the flexi lead rant, a good scathing discussion on Gentle Giants, I did get a hold of a copy of Oprah's show, and a lot more.

So stay tuned, this will be a short hiatus.

-Kerri

A few comments from a reader about Pets of Bel Aire

"We are horrified by the recent video released by the Humane Society of the United States showing footage of puppy mills. We do not condone puppy mills; we would never knowingly buy a dog from a puppy mill; and we are appalled by the possibility that this may have happened."

No s h i t (please edit, Kerri Na sounds good). Really? Appalled that you might not be buying the best puppies? I can't imagine. Somehow I think it has more to do with you being appalled that someone who might have wanted to buy one of your dogs saw the video. Ever wonder why they are being sold in bulk for cheap prices like toilet paper at Costco with no care as to who they are being sold to? Because they are low quality!

"We are investigating all of our sources so that we continue to have the finest and most reputable dogs from the best breeders, a practice that we’ve held central to our business since we opened nine years ago."

Because of course it wouldn't have been smarter to - what, ladies and gentlemen? - do that before you buy hundreds of puppies from them . . . I also find it amusing that they have reputable dogs. Are they reading a bit too much Garth Nix?

"Each of our beautiful puppies purchased out-of –state are from a USDA approved pet breeder."

OMFG they are bragging about it. It's like bragging that the baby sitter you hired to watch your kids is currently being watched by a parole officer - NOT SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT!

"We rely on our governmental agency to be sure that these breeders are inspected . . ."

Please see above - did it not occur to you to check that out for yourselves? Maybe not, it's probably a profit margin thing.

". . .and when we see the conditions that these animals are living in it feels as though the USDA has failed our business, and most importantly they have failed the animals that do not have a voice."

NO! The USDA did not fail these dogs, you did, you assholes. You and the people breeding them did. It's NOT the USDA's job to inspect the breeders that you are buying from, it is your job! By buying from puppymills you are sentencing the parents of those little designer mutts (AKA: the Animals Without Voices) to the rest of their lives as breeding machines, and little else. You have not only failed them, you have put fuel onto the fire! You are monetarily helping these mills!

Thanx Noludoru

So who watched Oprah?

Hey Readers,
Did you watch it? I didn't and forgot to get it taped? How was it, and does anyone want to do a guest blog on it?

Puppymill broker to the stars...

So if you were Paris Hilton, and you needed a teacup shmoodle or chi where do you go? Answer: you go here. Pets of Bel Air. An up scale pet shop selling 'up scale' (is that possible?) puppy mill puppies.
Thier clients also include Denise Richards, Demi Moore, Britney Spears and Robin Williams. (Dang I loved Robin Williams) These people have more than enough money to buy a good dog, they have no need to support puppy mills. Now of course Pets of Bel Air deny selling puppies from puppy mills.

"We are horrified by the recent video released by the Humane Society of the United States showing footage of puppy mills. We do not condone puppy mills; we would never knowingly buy a dog from a puppy mill; and we are appalled by the possibility that this may have happened. We are investigating all of our sources so that we continue to have the finest and most reputable dogs from the best breeders, a practice that we’ve held central to our business since we opened nine years ago.

Each of our beautiful puppies purchased out-of –state are from a USDA approved pet breeder. We rely on our governmental agency to be sure that these breeders are inspected, and when we see the conditions that these animals are living in it feels as though the USDA has failed our business, and most importantly they have failed the animals that do not have a voice."

I am NOT a fan of the HSUS, they are only slightly less offensive than PETA. (the HSUS raises millions of dollars by posing has a humane society-but don't fund ANY humane societies) but in this case they actually did some good.

The USDA (which is NOT the US Dressage Association, for you FHOTD readers) it is a body that polices puppy mills. This USDA is the US Department of Agriculture. Those of you who have livestock experience will know how minimal the standards are for livestock. These are the people this site is bragging approved their pups. NEWS FLASH!!!!!!! If the USDA is inspecting the kennels, thats cause its a puppy mill. No reputable breeder breeding good dogs will ever be inspected by the USDA as they don't fall under their jurisdiction.

So what other bad practices does this upscale puppy peddling business have. First of all I love their logo (can you year the scarcasm?) It shows the all important image the store wants you to buy into. Since they are purchasing superiour puppy mill pups, they should be able to offer a decent health guarantee.

"All of our pets come with 2 warranties.

1-Year Health Warranty: Your pet is warranted against certain congenital or hereditary problems.

Limited 14-Day Viral Warranty: Your pet is warranted against certain viral infections (i.e. Parvo virus, Corona, Distemper, Hepatitis)."

Wow a whole YEAR against unspecified health issues? And a limited Viral warranty. Just shoot me now please.

I looked at the pups. They show a JRT pup. OMG are they going to sell that pup to some unsuspecting person expecting Eddie? 99.99999% of JRTs in the rescue come from people who bought from a byb or petstore and had no idea what they were getting into. Of course they are never really told, as that may scare off a sale. This is an out of standard JRT (notice the short legs) who looks like the countless that are dropped off (often still as pups) to shelters and rescues across the continent. This pup did not come from a JRTCA breeder. I bet this pup is very expencive too. As a side note you can get a great JRT pup from a top breeder with a life time health and temperament guarantee for between 750-1200 dollars. This also includes full breeder support for life too.

If they don't have what you want, you can special order your dog. "To special order a puppy or kitten all we need is a deposit of at least $300.00 (depending on the breed) and your desired specifics (i.e. "female, tea-cup, applehead, black & white, Chihuahua" or "large, male, Bernese Mountain Dog")"

So why are stars so stupid?